1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to tracking systems and, more particularly, to systems designed to track articles and personnel.
2. Description of Related Art
Various techniques may be used to track articles and personnel. Global positioning systems and local positioning systems are examples that may be used depending on the particular items or persons being located. Included as part of these systems are various embodiments of hardware and software. The hardware may be used, for example, to collect data about the various entities being tracked or located.
Long range identification or tracking systems are designed to read large numbers of tags every few seconds, wherever they may roam in a bounded environment. For low cost and small size, these tags may be e usually low-powered, for example, emitting in the range of 1-10 mW. Under ideal conditions, read ranges up to about 100 meters can be realized. Alternatively, in a more cluttered indoor environment, read ranges more like 25 meters is typical. As a practical matter, an antenna placed every 20 meters or so is often needed for reliable coverage of a complete indoor space. In such instances, installing an antenna every 20 meters can pose a substantial installation challenge. In some cases, cable installation costs can exceed hardware costs, and the installation process can cause significant business disruption. Therefore, it is desirable to find additional uses for the same antennas such as enabling one installation to be used for several purposes.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention is a system. The system includes a radio frequency identification tag, a wireless communication system, an antenna module, and a controller. The antenna moduel is used in transmitting and receiving signals from the radio frequency identification tag. The antenna module is also used in transmitting and receiving signals used in the wireless communication system. The controller is coupled to the antenna module. The controller is used in communications with the radio frequency identification tag and the wireless communication system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention is a method for locating objects and operating a wireless communication system. Signals are transmitted and received using an antenna module from the radio frequency identification tag and from the wireless communication system. A controller is coupled to the antenna module and used in communications with the radio frequency identification tag and the wireless communication system.